Fuel indicating lighter



Nov. 3% 1948. HARRIS 2,454,872

FUEL INDICA'IING LIGHTER Filed Dec. 5, 1944 1 INVENTOR. ALEXANDERHARR/S. 14 BY Patented Nov. 39, 1948 FUEL mmcsr'mo LIGHTER IAlexander Harris, Scobeyvllle, N. 3., assignor to Ronson Art MetalWorks, Inc., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 5, 1944,SerialNo. 566,691

The invention relates to cigar lighters of known type wherein liquidfuel is charged from time to time into the fuel containing receptacle ofthe lighter, and aims primarily to provide a lighter of the above typewhich will afford a plain and reliable visual indication to the userwhen the lighter is in need of filling, and without requiring him toopen the lighter or the fuel casing in making his inspection. In a morespecific aspect the invention aims to provide a lighter which willfunction as above stated when the ordinary colorless liquid lighterfuels are 1 Claims (c1. 6-2-71) become unduly. charred and also anappreciable period of time may elapse before added fuel saturates-theWick,during which time the user may be in doubt as to the reason why thelighter fails to function properly, 1; e. he may not know whetherthe'trouble is lack of fuel, a faulty wick, faulty sparking wheel orpyrophoric metal, or a combination of such defects. The interiorindication of the amount of fuel in the fuel receptacle may be obtainedin a variety of ways, and still afford suflicient visual indicationthrough an used, i.- e. without requiring colored or otherwiseespecially compounded fuel. V In another aspect, the invention also aimsto provide ready and facile. indication of the need for renewing thepyrophoric metal'piece used in lighters of the above typeto ignite thefuel.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obviousand in part specifically referred to in the description hereinaftercontained which discloses one formof lighter constructed to operate inaccordance with the invention; the disclosure however should beconsidered merely as illustrative from the standpoint of the inventionin its broader aspects. In the drawings-- Fig. l is a side elevation,and

Fig. 2 a bottom plan View of one form of lighter constructed to operatein accordance with the invention.

,Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail side elevation showing apreferred form of pyrophoric metal supporting tube in operative relationto I the 'fuel receptacle and sparking wheel.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail cross section illustrating a somewhatmodified form of the invention.

the user the condition of the fuel supply in the fuel receptacle, i. e.the presence or absence therein of an adequate fuel supply and therebyindicate the need of replenishing the fuel, by providing in thefuelreceptacle a material which changes in appearance according to theamount of fuel in the receptacle, and which may be viewed by the userthrough an adjacent translucent wall of the receptacle, thus making itpossible for the user to observetheneed of adding more fuel while thefuel chamber is closed, and without disturbing the operating parts ofthe lighter. refilling the fuel is highly important to the user, sinceif the fuel chamber is permitted to become too dry before adding morefuel, the wick may An accurate indication of the need of adjacenttranslucent wall portion of the receptacle. For example, I have foundthat a practical and reliable visual indication of the amount of fuelcontained within the receptacle and of the need for replenishing thesame with fuel, may be obtained by providing within the fuel casing, orat least within a part thereof which is adjacent to the translucent wallportion, a material which changes in appearance according to the amountof fuel contained in the casing. A filling of absorbent cotton dyed withone of the socalled direct aniline dyes may be used, these dyes beinginsoluble in the naphtha type of fuel customarily used in lighters sothat the coloring is not consumed withthe fuel, and the desiredindication may be obtained without requiring the use of speciallycolored or otherwise specially compounded fuels. Among the direct dyessuitable for the above purpose may be mentioned sodium salt ofdiphenyl-disazo-bis-2-amino-8- naphthol-G-sulphonic acid, which is aviolet dye, and sodium salt of p-sulphobenzene-azo-benzene-azo 6benzoylamino l naphthol-Zi-sulphonic acid, which is a red dye. Whenimpregnated with dyes of the above character the absorbent cotton'fllling tends to assume a paler shade as the quantity of fueldecreases, the color becoming more accentuated as the filling becomesmore saturated. Even the untinted absorbent cotton fillings customarilyused heretofore will assume a grayer color as the amount of ordinarynaphtha type lighter fluid carried thereby is increased and will assumea whiter color as the filling dries out, sufficient to indicate the needof recharging with fuel as the whiter color predominates, although theaccentuation of the color contrast is not so marked as when special dyesare employed as above mentioned. Also if the interior surface of thetranslucent portion of the receptacle is made of irregular contour, asby sand blasting to produce a frosted effect, different light effectsmay be obtained as viewed through the translucent wall portion of thereceptacle, depending upon the amount of liquid fuel present in thereceptacle, due either to fuel deposited upon the frosted surface or ascarried by an absorptive filling adjacent the translucent wall of thereceptacle.

The invention isdisclosed in Figs. 1-3 as applied to a lighter of thetype disclosed in the patent to Louis V. Aronson No. 2,002,845, grantedMay 28, 1935, having a fuel containing casing l, a wick tube 2, snuifer3 and finger piece 4. The bottom wall 5 of the fuel casing is shown asprovided with the usual removable threaded metal plug 9, for fuelfilling purposes, and a small metal screw I for adjusting the pressureon the pyrophoric metal piece l2 which is exerted by a spring I6, tohold it against the sparking wheel H, as is well known. In the specificform of the invention under discussion all walls of the casing I areconstructed of translucent plastic material. The side wall of the casingmay partially comprise a layer of metal, leather or other reinforcing,decorative or masking material 8, to leave a translucent edge portion 9which gives somewhat of a gauge-glass effect, through which the colorchangeable material above mentioned may be viewed. In this form thebottom and top walls of the casing are also translucent.

The fuel absorbent filling It may be understood as carrying one ofthedirect dyes above referred to so that asthe fuel supply in thereceptacle diminishes, the coloi of the filling becomes lessaccentuated, which serves as a warning to the user that the lighterneeds more fuel. Only the portion of the filling which is exposed toview need be specially colored as above described.

The fuel casing may be provided with markings appropriately colored ortinted to indicate respectively adequate fuel saturation of the filling,and dryness, for ready comparison by the user with the appearance of theinterior material which changes in appearance according to the supply offuel in the casing. In Fig. 1 I have shown strips 9a and 9b overlyingthe translucent edge portion 9, which are appropriately colored for thispurpose.

A somewhat modified form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 4,according to which the translucent portion of the lighter casing has aninterior surface 9b such as may be obtained by providing a ribbed innersurface, or a matted surface as obtained by sand-blasting to produce 4filling to have a darker color as viewed through the adjacenttranslucent wall portion, than when the filling is relatively dry. Whenthe filling is well saturated, the lighter fluid appears to enter thedepressions 9b in the interior surface of the wall 9a, with the resultthat most of the less translucency in certain portions of the inincominglight is absorbed in these depressed areas with little reflection, andas the fuel supply decreases the reflection increases to produce anoptical effect of a lighter shade.

In another aspect of the invention, as shown in Fig. 3, the tube I3which encloses and slidably supports the piece of pyrophoric metal I! isalso constructed in whole or in part of translucent material as abovementioned. Thus as the pyrophoric metal piece l2 shortens in length, inuse, its condition may be observed through the translucent tube 13,particularly when the snufi'er member 4 is'lifted. Such an inspectionenables the operator to observe through the translucent wall l3 when anew piece of pyrophoric metal needs to be inserted, without waiting forthe lighter to fail in operation, and without removing the sparkingmetal from operative position for inspection.

. While the invention has been disclosed as above specificallydescribed, it should be understood that changes may be made withoutdeparting from the invention in its broader aspects, within the scope ofthe appended claim.

I claim:

A cigar lighter having a fuel receptacle, an absorbent filling of cottontherein which is treated with a direct aniline dye insoluble in fuels ofthe naphtha type, to render the filling of different color as colorlessfuel is added thereto and consumed therefrom, said receptacle-having awall portion of translucent material adjacent said filling to expose thecolor thereof to view while the receptacle is closed.

- ALEXANDER HARRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,793,515 Segal Feb. 24, 19311,826,115 Ziebarth Oct. 6, 1931 1,961,577 Aronson June 5, 1934 2,070,232Lenfant Feb. 9, 1937 2,244,563 Mansfield June 3, 1941 2,318,307 HarrisMay 4, 1943

